How to grip a golf club

How to Grip a Golf Club

For Longer and Straighter Shots

Golf can be a confusing and frustrating game. For this reason, you must simplify the most important aspects of the game and repeatedly do them correctly. There is no more important fundamental in the game of golf than your grip. Professional golf instructor Nick Bradley estimates that "in more than 90 percent of instances, a faulty grip will create a damaging swing flaw." You only have one connection to the golf club, and that is your hands, which is exactly why it is the first fundamental you should master when building your golf swing. It's often tempting to try to copy another golfer's exact grip, but you should concentrate on building a grip that works easiest for your body. This is how:

1. Determine your natural hand alignment by letting your hands hang at your sides in a relaxed manner. This is the position your hands will naturally revert to at the bottom of your swing, so it only makes sense to set them this way before swinging to avoid unnecessary manipulation.

2. Place the club in the pad of your left hand (the area just along the edge of the bottom of your four fingers) and close your fingers around the club, your left thumb should sit on the right center portion of the grip.

3. Put the club in the middle of the fingers on your right hand, and the palm on the underside of your right thumb should rest comfortably and fit perfectly on top of your left thumb.

4. Make sure there is no space between your thumb and index finger on either hand. Former PGA Champion Steve Elkington once joked that if there was ever a surgery that could improve a golfer's game, it would be having the area between those fingers sewn shut.

5. You can either hold the club with all 10 fingers, or you can add unity to your grip by interlocking your pinky finger with your index finger (better for smaller hands), or add unity by overlapping your pinky finger over your index finger(better for larger hands). Experiment to find what is most comfortable and works best for you.

6. Wiggle the club around in your hands. Make sure your grip is tight enough that there is no slipping or change of position in your hands, but relaxed and loose enough that your wrists can move freely.

Follow these five steps and you're well on your way to hitting straighter and longer shots more consistently!